I visited in Turkey in 2023, including a longish stay in Istanbul and visits to other places such as Ankara, Antalya, Izmir, Konya, and Cappadocia.

Turkey is a very competitive downshifting destination. Food price-to-quality ratio is extreme, the coffee’s greater, cafes and bars close very late. Rules around parking, seatbelts, etc. are optional, and the bureaucracy is a pain, but Turks are unusually helpful. Cavorting is possible in a way that is inaccessible or inadvisable in Arab countries. The stray cats in the cities are charming.

However, it does come off as “foreign” in a way that that European doesn’t; its cities are a melange of European/Balkan/MENA influences in different proportions, with Izmir being the most Med!Europe loaded, and Konya being the most MENA (e.g. as proxied by cleanliness, and tank top-to-hijab ratio on the girls). After a time the call to prayer and the flea markets lose their novelty and get tiring. Atatürk imagery is ubiquitous, though in fairness, if any politician has ever deserved a cult of personality, he’d be a prime candidate. Other negatives: A bit poorer and drabbier than I expected; some new infrastructure, but it’s underutilized; VPN is highly advisable due to Internet restrictions.

From hosting the first human permanent settlements at Çatalhöyük through the Roman Empire, the Byzantines, and the Ottoman Empire, the country overflows with historical sites and artifacts. One can spend weeks exploring all the sites.